Companies that were early entrants into digital marketing and ecommerce gained a multi-year head start on many of their industry counterparts. While there were constantly bumps and technical hiccups, massive user growth was occurring and there were spoils to be gained, simply by being in the game.
Examples of the competitive advantage that occurred include:
- Accumulating an online prospect and customer database for future digital marketing initiatives (that often still benefits companies to this day).
- Building said database through channels that were much less costly at the time. For example, in the early days of Google, pre-AdWords, MoreVisibility “bought” the top position on the page anytime someone searched the phrases “Search Engine Optimization” or “Search Engine Marketing” for I believe $2,000 per key phrase, per year!
Some websites found early success in generating revenue while others couldn’t properly make the connection with their audience. Those who excelled likely didn’t nail it perfectly at first. They tweaked and tried multiple approaches utilizing the archaic tools which were available at the time and they evolved their websites as the internet began to stabilize and mature. The ones (of the early adopters) who are still successful today are no doubt committed to evolving and testing and this includes figuring out what’s next.
Every marketing channel from SEO to SEM to Social Media, along with website platforming, UX and design are constantly changing along with the analytics to monitor performance. Inherent in that are short-term opportunities to gain knowledge and add to your marketing mix for the longer haul. What can you be doing to advance your efforts while gaining an edge on your industry competitors?
